Google says the top trending health question of 2018 was people looking for information on the ketogenic, or keto, diet.

The diet involves drastically reducing your intake of carbohydrates and replacing them with fats, forcing the body into a state of ketosis ó when you burn fat instead of carbohydrates for energy.

However, because it is so restrictive and difficult to adhere to, dietitians generally do not recommend the diet for weight loss. -- ABC News

Of course, they want us to suffer daily on a calorie restricted diet -- go hungry everyday and slow down our metabolisms :rolleyes:

Good to see people questioning the conventional wisdom and thinking for themselves though :idea:

Makes me wonder how much Google knows about us?

teaser

Sat, Dec-29-18 10:00

Quote:

dras∑ti∑cal∑ly
/ˈdrastəklē/Submit
adverb
in a way that is likely to have a strong or far-reaching effect.

Okay. I'm good with that.

Dodger

Sat, Dec-29-18 10:36

Switching from low-fat to low-carb allowed me to eat the foods that taste good and makes me happy.

GRB5111

Sat, Dec-29-18 11:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike_d

Makes me wonder how much Google knows about us?

More than you'd ever imagine if you're a regular google search, gmail, or android phone user.

mike_d

Sat, Dec-29-18 15:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by GRB5111

More than you'd ever imagine if you're a regular google search, gmail, or android phone user.

Yeah, I expected as much. Creepy ads that follow you everywhere while logged into Google?

I just got a call I didn't recognize, went to "800 notes" to look it up and it was a disconnected number calling?

Anyway the top Ad banner was for "CRISPR genome editing" for IDT Integrated DNA Technologies, recently acquired by Danaher (NYSE: DHR). It looks like I am being followed :rolleyes:

WereBear

Sat, Dec-29-18 19:13

Spammers now use random numbers so you canít tell.

GRB5111

Sun, Dec-30-18 09:39

Google has technology that tracks "identities" everywhere and establishes sophisticated database profiles. They know more about you and your interests, whether it's web activities or email topics, than you can fathom. Once you link gmail to a phone number and web surfing/shopping habits, it's there forever. Reading email on a phone or other devices establishes those relationships and contributes to your identify profile. Many are quite comfortable and accepting of this. I tend to be more old school and don't want to share private information.

WereBear

Sun, Dec-30-18 13:36

Use privacy browsers like Brave or Firefox Focus, or use incognito mode on Chrome or Safari.

Search with Duck Duck Go, which says they donít use your info. Perhaps.

Donít buy anything online.

But remember that even if you never go online again, your bank, the places you shop, the governmental agencies you interact with, the documented web of your life; all that IS online.

Even if you lived in a hut and stashed cash in your mattress.

Meme#1

Sun, Dec-30-18 14:30

They're tracking everyone by their cell phone numbers too because not many people have landlines anymore, the cell phone number is tied to everything including all banks, grocery store discount programs, department stores and all pharmacies.

M Levac

Mon, Dec-31-18 03:15

I trust google for nothing. Too much BS. They changed my yootoob username without my consent. They linked my separate accounts without my consent. They omit the mention "sponsor" in their search results. They personalize search results so that no two people (rather, no two IP's) see the same thing. They obfuscate URL's for search results when you're logged into your google account, so then you can't know if you're actually on the site you clicked, cuz that URL is just unreadable garbage (likely a tracking mechanism). They harass you by telling you it would be really good if you just put your phone number in that little box for security purposes, cuz ya know, it's all about da security and stuff, every goddamn time you log in. They add bloatware to Android OS, all of which is literally useless (I have used exactly none of that crap. Ever.), drains battery, that's just a great idea. They turned on max performance on laptop graphics card by default in their Chrome browser (it's a mechanism in the graphics driver that allows apps to run smoothly on demand), drains battery, that's just another great idea (they had to patch that cuz they got caught cuz complaints and stuff). And likely much more I'm not personally aware of at this time, but then word gets out, it's da intarwebs after all.

The point is, if there's little reason to trust google cuz of all this crap, how can I possibly trust google about search statistics, hm? For all I know, search stats is just more of the same BS.

Yay, keto is top number 1 on the most untrustworthy search engine on the planet! Well, at least they talk about it, there's that.

mike_d

Mon, Dec-31-18 14:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by WereBear

But remember that even if you never go online again, your bank, the places you shop, the governmental agencies you interact with, the documented web of your life; all that IS online.

Even if you lived in a hut and stashed cash in your mattress.

Yes, then there are those nefarious "credit bureaus" and "LexisNexis" who provides them with "out of wallet" questions like: "What was the license number of the first car you ever owned?"

mike_d

Mon, Dec-31-18 14:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meme#1

They're tracking everyone by their cell phone numbers too because not many people have landlines anymore, the cell phone number is tied to everything including all banks, grocery store discount programs, department stores and all pharmacies.

It's even worse for me: my cell number is my old landline number too :(